Conte, the mastermind of the biggest doping ring in the history of sports, has accused Mosley of knowingly doping.

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In coming months he is expected to publish a tell-all book including that allegation.

Conte and his lawyers considered the dismissal a victory even though fighting the complaint has been a financial drain. They vowed to recover attorney's fees in California.

And they vowed to fight the new suit.

"Shane Mosley is going to soon find out that the truth packs a powerful punch," said Conte Tuesday. "I am going to knock him out in a court of law."

Conte's lawyer, James Wagstaffe, said he would file a motion arguing that New York is an improper jurisdiction.

"He's seeking publicity," Wagstaffe said of Mosley. "He was facing bad publicity. His suit was about to be thrown out. He's suing because he wants the world to know he sued. It's a process case, and at the end of the day, when people bring libel suits to make a point, the truth follows."

Meanwhile, Mosley's attorney, Judd Burstein, promised a barrage of legal challenges to Conte's book and its publisher, Skyhorse Publishing.

"As soon as they publish the book we're going to sue them the next day," Burstein told the News.

The new suit demands at least $2 million in compensatory damages and at least $10million in punitive damages. Burstein told the News he will go after any insurance company underwriting Skyhorse for defamation.

"We're going to sue the insurance company also," Burstein said. "I think our damages are in excess of $2 million. I have $2 million there that are easy taking."

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The sports world has been awash in defamation lawsuits in recent years, the most explosive one being the complaint Roger Clemens brought against his former trainer Brian McNamee in January, just before McNamee was due to testify that Clemens used steroids and human growth hormone.

Marion Jones sued Conte in 2004 for $25million in damages after he told a television program about how he assisted the sprinter with doping. Conte claims he spent $150,000 defending himself from Jones before she dropped the suit and later admitted to doping. She is now serving a six-month jail sentence for lying to investigators about steroid use.

Conte's allegations about Mosley became public on March 30, when he told the Daily News and other media outlets that Mosley was aware of what was happening when Conte illegally supplied the boxer with banned performance-enhancing drugs.

Mosley sued him on April 2.

Mosley has maintained for years that he thought he was receiving legal and healthy substances from BALCO. He told that to the grand jury investigating BALCO in 2003, according to Burstein.

"Shane's never denied that he took the stuff," said Burstein. "He just didn't know what it was."

But Conte said he has calendars that detail doping regimens for Mosley and other athletes and filed a sworn affidavit along with Mosley's former trainer Derryl Hudson describing how he explained to Mosley that the substances in question were steroids and EPO. Both Hudson and Conte said in their statements that Conte showed Mosley how to inject himself in the abdomen with EPO and then watched Mosley inject himself.

"This dismissal is proof that the case has no merit," said Wagstaffe. "After we submitted proof that Mr. Conte's statements were true, Mosley and his attorneys dismissed the California lawsuit."